Infinite Chaos A Post Sonic Forces FanFiction
by AviTheTiger
Summary: After the events of Sonic Forces, the Resistance can not rest just yet! Infinite makes his last stand, but will his actions throw him out of the frying pan and deeper into the fire?
1. Dark Sonic Arc Prologue

One hundred and eighty six years into the future of the planet Mobius, a single figure clad in a purple coat lies on the grass.

Blaze the cat stares up at the sky longingly. She lets out a sigh that has a tone of boredom or worry as she idly weaves fire thru her fingers. Her train of thought is broken when she notices a crack in the sky.

"Silver!" she said as she jolted upwards.

The crack widens into a hole leading to a vortex of striped colors. Silver the hedgehog comes out of it. The hole closes as he descends down to Earth.

"Yo!" said Silver as he cheerfully gave Blaze a little wave.

"So," said Blaze, "did you do it?"

"Yup!" said Silver as he cheerfully noded. "Sonic and everyone else are working together to fix everything that Eggman broke! Are the robots gone?"

"Almost," Blaze said as she motioned toward a Death Egg robot, somehow spontaneously dismantling itself. "They're all just destroying themselves on their own."

"That's terrific!" Silver cheered. "Thanks for staying back to make sure everything is ok!"

Blaze was unimpressed. "How is the council going to react to this?"

"I…" Silver mumbled as his face fell. "I don't know… we never spoke a word about this to anyone, right?"

"How exactly can I tell anyone when you've been gone for only about two hours? Not to mention the fact I was busy protecting everyone else."

Silver's eyes widen in surprise. "I was only gone for two hours here?"

Despite Silver spending more than six months in the present with the Resistance, he returned to his own time only two hours after he had left.

Blaze rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "I hope they don't find out about our secret mission," she sighed.

"But aren't you the princess?" Silver asked hopefully. "Surely you can do something, right?"

"It's apparent you don't understand how a constitutional monarchy works,"

Silver's blank smile backed up Blaze's observation. "What?"

Blaze rolled her eyes at SIlver, then said "Anyways, let's go," She turns and starts walking towards the city.

"Let's go on a date!"

Silver's exclamation clearly caught Blaze's attention. She stopped in her tracks, then slowly turn her head to face him. "Excuse me?"

Without bothering to explain, Silver grabbed Blaze's hand and starts running forward. "C'mon, let's go!" he said with a purely innocent, joyful smile.

Blaze, however, only had a blank smile as she had no idea what had just transpired.

Silver dragged Blaze all the way to his post, the Room of Records. It is a dark room with only one door and one window. However, the room itself has a size big enough to compensate for the giant computer and it's even bigger translucent monitor. The bright light given off from the monitor gives the room a sort of ominous, desolate atmosphere. However, that is not the case at this given moment.

Blaze, clearly mad that Silver forcefully dragged her all the way here, pries her hand out of his grip. "If this is your idea of a 'romantic' date, and to which, I might add, I never agreed to, then you clearly need to develop a larger imagination."

Silver blushed profusely as he gave Blaze an embarrassed smile. "Yeah… uh…." he mumbled as he started looking away, blushing even more. "I've something to ask you…"

"Which is?" Blaze asked as she crossed her arms.

"Blaze…" Silver mumbled.

"Yes?"

"Will you…"

"Uh huh?"

"BLAZE!" Silver cried out. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?!"

Blaze looked hard at Silver. "...Excuse me?"

"Will you ma-"

"I heard you," Blaze interjected.

"Well...will you?" Silver pleaded. "I-in the future I mean."

Blaze's switch has clearly been flipped. Slowly, she threateningly stalks over to Silver in her graceful cat walk.

"I-I mean, I know I'm probably way too young for that, and we're just really great friends, but we can just take it a little higher now and start\ dating, right?" Silver stuttered as he backed away from Blaze and towards the computer.

The computer, sensing movement coming towards it, summons it translucent keyboard. It appears with a short, low whine as it slowly fades in. The monitor's display changes, and now it says "Welcome to Mobi-ware XL! Version 1.2.135" in big, egyptian blue Vivaldi letters against a gradient from morning blue to periwinkle.

"Come again?" growled Blaze.

"I…" Silver muttered. "I think I love you, Blaze…" Silver continues to move back until his back is against the keyboard. He accidentally presses something without knowing.

Blaze opens her mouth to say something to Silver, but the monitor flashes and diverts her attention. "What's that?"

Silver pushes away from the computer and bumps into Blaze. He turns to look at the monitor.

Displayed on the monitor are the records, however, three months after the Resistance wins against Eggman, there is a one year gap.

"That wasn't there before, was it?" asked Silver.

"I wouldn't think so," said Blaze. "Maybe you're doing just a little too much time travel,"

As the both converse, they do not notice the shadows creeping up on them.

"Look at this…" said Silver as he opened a record recorded directly after the one year gap.

The record he opened opens a black haze and deafening screeching noise mixed in noises from an old time fax machine. Through the dynn, Silver and Blaze could barely make out a few words.

" _ **Help….No…..Stop….It's….Chaos…...No….Fears…..Black…..Plant…."**_

After that, the message is cut off by a high-pitched screeching noise. Silver and Blaze turn their heads away from the flashing lights on the monitor and cover their eyes.

"B-Blaze…" Silver mumbled as he noticed his shadow not acting normally.

Blaze lifts her head and sees the shadows creeping up on them. "Silver...What's…"

"I think it may have something to do with that corrupted record!"

As they stand up, they notice there is nothing but darkness as far as their can see. The door, the window, it's all gone and replaced with a black blacker than the blackest of black hearts. A sense of pure, unadulterated evil emanates from the shadows. Silver and Blaze step back away from the shadows that creep towards them slowly…. Menacingly…

"We have to fix this!" Silver exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Blazed agreed, "Let's go before whatever that is sucks us up into it!"

Silver looks around to find a way out. "It's no use!" he cried, "There's nowhere to go! And I can't open a time portal without the Chaos Emeralds!"

Blaze turns to face the shadows, fire in hand. "I'll hold them off! You try to get us out of here! Break the wall if you have to!"

Silver turns to the wall and uses his psychokinesis to pull out chunks of the wall, forming a hole for he and Blaze to escape. Blaze is busy shooting brilliant bursts of flames at the darkness, causing it to shy away farther from them. Eventually, a hole big enough for the two of them is successfully dig out. Silver grabs Blaze by the hand and they escape out of the room.

Outside, their precious world is in a state of ruining terror. The darkness keeps on creeping, engulfing anything and everything it touches. The anguished cries of women and children could be heard as the darkness latches on to them and sucks them in.

"This is bad…" said Silver, "Very bad…"

"Why is this happening?" said Blaze, on the verge of tears. "Why?"

"I… don't know," said Silver as he shook his disbelief. "I just don't know…"

Blaze starts crying into Silver's arms. Silver looks around him, waiting for the inevitable, as hot tears stream down his face. Everything he and Blaze worked to protect was being erased all in front of his eyes.

Silver's eyes stray to a point where the darkness has not yet plagued. There, at that point, was a crack in the sky.

It was a remnant of the Time Vortex Silver used to come back.

 _Maybe…_ Silver thought, _Just maybe…._

Silver grips Blaze's arm tightly, his eyes burning with determination. "C'mon!"

He leaps up and starts flying towards the crack, twisting and turning to avoid the expanding shadows.

 _I hope this works I hope this works I hope this works…_

"Silver!" yelled Blaze, "What are you-?!"

"I have a plan!" _I think… I hope… I hope this works I hope this works…_

As Silver reaches the point, he let's go of Blaze.

"Hold that thing off! I'm gonna try and pry this thing open!" Silver cried.

"You're crazy!" said Blaze, even though she's already turned and shooting flames at the darkness. However, this only slows it down and not completely put its progress on stand still. "Silver, hurry! There's too much coming from all around us!"

"I'm….trying…." said Silver with a strained voice. The effort he is putting into prying open the Time Vortex is evident.

Slowly, but surely, the darkness creeps up on Silver and Blaze. Slowly and steadily, Silver pries open the Time Vortex all the way.

Silver quickly grabs Blaze's hand and says "Let's go," before jumping into the Time Vortex. It closes before the darkness could touch them.

Had they hesitated for a moment, they would've been sucked into the shadows and join the thousands of glowing red pairs of eyes in the dark…


	2. Dark Sonic Arc Chapter One

Long plumes of thick, black smoke covered the reds of a, what should be, beautiful sunset. The broken city below seems like a dystopian paradise; buildings creaked and groaned before finally crashing to the ground.

On a grassy hill below the dystopia, a lone, teal-furred wolf clad in a utility belt with a strap going over his left shoulder climbs up to the top.

"Well," he sighs, "this is going to be one Hell of a mess to clean up,"

The wolf scans the scene in front of him with his soft, red eyes. His train of thought is broken when a voice from behind him calls out his name.

"Heeey! Arrats!"

Arrats turns around to see his red-furred twin, Beowulf, bounding up the hill towards him at a very fast and uncomfortable pace.

"O-oh. Hi, Beo," Arrats starts, "Please don't-"

Beowulf cut off his brother with a very rough and excited tackled-hug which sent the both of them toppling to the ground.

"Yayayayyayayayayayyayayayayay wediditwediditwediditwediditwediditwediditwedidit WE DID IT!"

"Yay," Arrats flustered as he struggled to push his brother off of him. "You did it," his tone was almost sarcastic. "We did it. What did we do again?"

"Oh, nothing!" Beowulf said as he finally jumped off his brother, "Only save the friggin' _world_ from friggin' Dr. FatStache!"

Arrats snickered at the name his brother gave to Dr. Eggman. "Yay!" he said almost unenthusiastically as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Yay!" Beowulf yelled out once more.

"Yay. Now come on and help me with this mess," Arrats told Beowulf.

"Yay!"

"Yay,"

"And the best part is that I got to do it with Sonic!" Beowulf yelled out, "Yay!"

"I can see you're excited, Beo," said Arrats, "but we _really_ need to clean up this mess,"

"Oh, ok!" Beowulf complied. "Hooray!"

"You're attracting attention more than you're cleaning up," Arrats called back as he started walking towards a pile of ruble.

Arrats started to move the ruble to uncover his Void Wispon, but instead had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by a speeding projectile. Unfortunately, he landed a small depression in the land-right under a falling building. The building collapsed in on itself and trapped Arrats in the hole. There was only a small space for him to attempt getting our.

"... This is fine," said Arrats in a monotone voice with a smile on his face.

"Oh, sorry," said the cyan bird-clad in a black shirt with two cyan arrows pointing up, green camo-print tights, black and white shoes, black workout gloves, and a pair of black goggles-that drove himself into Arrats with his drill wispon, "I'll, uh, get you out,"

"Thanks, Ari," said Arrats.

Beowulf bounded over as Ari pulled Arrats out of his wolf-hole. "We did it!"

"Yay!" Ari replied nervously.

"Yay," Arrats said, clearly getting annoyed.

"I beat the shit outta-"

"Ok, Beo! That's enough out of you," Arrats interjected.

"Sure, Beo. You beat the shit out of Eggy McFatAss with Sonic and Baby Sonic," Ari started.

"Please don't encourage him," Arrats moaned. "He's better off looking at internet memes,"

"But we all know that we wouldn't be here if _I_ hadn't got rid of that sun," Ari ended.

"Oh yeah!" Arrats said. "And I helped Sonic escape from that Void!"

"And _I_ freed Sonic from his torturous prison!"

The three guys turned around to see a pink cat, clad in a purple plaid skirt, a black tank top, a purple screened eye-computer, black gloves, and a pair of light-brown boots, smiling at them as she held onto her Void Wispon tightly to her chest.

"Yay! Catherine!" Beowulf bounded over to the cat with his arms outstretched towards her.

"Yay! Beo!" the cat cried as she ran over to Beowulf with her arms outstretched towards him.

The two caught each other in a tight hug as they laughed and giggled and filled the dark, morbid scene with a gae atmosphere.

Arrats looked at the wolf and the cat dancing around as they rejoiced the victory all four of them made together. Arrats, Beowulf, Ari, and Catherine stood in this soon-to-be-former morbid scene and silently saluted the sky.

The world was finally at peace.


	3. Dark Sonic Arc Chapter Two

"Shit!" Eggman roared as he painfully massaged his shoulder. "Beaten yet _again_ by that blasted rodent! And I thought for sure this time around was finally the one! How wrong I was!"

From his perch on his swivel chair, Eggman turned and slammed the dashboard in front of him. The lights flickered on and illuminated the large, circular room with a coldly dim light. The cold metal floor reflected the soft, blue light from the serene ocean view coming through the window. Fish paused as they were darting past to look at the silly fat man in his conniption.

"I've got to start over." Eggman wheeled his chair over to a monitor towards the back of the room. He pulled out the keyboard from its drawer and start typing away furiously. "I wonder if I can connect back to Chemical Plant from here and pull up some of my old files. I should be able to get some ideas from there. Yes! I'll access all of my old files from everywhere and use them to brainstorm! At least one of them must've had Sonic in my grasp for a while. Orbot! Help me run the data over to my main console!"

Eggman shifted from station to station in the room. Dials and monitors clicked and whirred with life. Data salvaged from all over transferred themselves into Eggman's main console at the center of the room.

"Yes, yes!" Eggman howled with glee. "With all of this, surely.. _Surely_ I'll be able to win this time! All of my humiliation and defeats will be returned a thousand and one fold!"

"That's what you said last time, Doctor," Orbot pointed out. "Except this time, you have a slight-"

"Silence!" Eggman shrieked. "Get back to work you useless bucket of bolts!"

"Yes sir," Orbot capitulated. "Oh, Doctor. A strange file has been transferred over to the Eggboat Computer. Shall I delete it?"

"Open it!"

"That's not really recommended, Doc-"

Eggman missed as he threw an empty bucket at Orbot. "I said open it!"

"Y-yes sir…"

Orbot made the mistake of opening the file, hence shutting down all the computers in the room.

"Now look what you did!" Eggman roared.

Orbot silently muttered something Eggman couldn't quite make out. He didn't have time to dwell on it, however. The room filled itself with a brilliant bright light and a voice could be heard.

"Chemical Plant report. Log date, 6-66," the soft, sweet, mid-ranged voice belonged to a middle-aged fox who oddly looked alot like Sonic's fox friend, Tails. "There seems to be a disruption going on in the computers. I am able to record this on the only working one. I wonder how long it will last."

"Great!" yelled Eggman. "Now the Eggboat computer is encrypted with malware!"

"Along with the computers not working properly," the fox continued, "some of our workers seems to be disappearing. In fact, Maribel and Renko had disappeared just this morning around 0600 hours. Now it's just down to me and Peter. Thank God I am stuck with someone who has medical training."

"I could try to free the computer, Doctor," Orbot offered.

"The experimental subject seems to acting quite strangely," the fox said.

"No," said Eggman. "Let it play, this is... most intriguing."

"Though we cannot see into the subject's tank," the fox said, "we hear a constant knocking every hour or so. It is always the same pattern, like some sort of morse code. However, we are unable to decipher it. The pattern goes as follows: dash dot dash dash dash, dash dash dash dash, dot dot dot dash. Peter is busy looking through all of his-

"Peter? Peter?! Oh no, Peter's gone! I'm the only one left. Before I leave, I will say this-"

The video was cut off by a static accompanied by a shrill screech.

"What?!" Eggman screamed. "What happened? Try to get that video back! And run a test on that morse code while you're at it. I've never heard a pattern like _that_ in my life!"

Orbot tried his best to get the message back, but he only accomplished in getting the computers back to normal and running their previous tasks. "Uhh Doctor? The file seemed to have deleted itself."

"What?" Eggman asked. "No matter, I'll just retrieve the one piece we have from your memory data."

"Doctor,"

"What now, Orbot?"

"I...can't remember the contents of the file," Orbot said, his voice full of worry.

"What?!" Eggman burst. "What do you mean by you 'can't remember the contents of the file!?'"

"I-it...seemed to have deleted itself from my memory as well…"

"Argh! What about you, Cu-" Eggman started. "Where's Cubot?!"

At that moment, Cubot's decapitated head landed at Eggman's feet.

"What?" Eggman yelled.

Eggman took a look around the room. His eyes stopped at the doorway.

Infinite was there. Rapidly phasing in and out of reality.

"I-Infinite?" Eggman's voice wavered with horror and shock mixed together. Has the jackal come back to get revenge for his betrayal? No, he can't do much like how he is now, so is he here for a second chance?

Infinite staggered forward slowly. Eventually, he fell face-down at Eggman's feet. The Phantom Ruby attached to his chest shattered and Infinite's existence stopped oscillating. His mask fell off as he struggled to get up.

"Infinite!" Eggman exclaimed tepidly. "I'm so glad you're ok! Here, let me help you."

Eggman cautiously outstretched he arm to help Infinite, but the weakened jackal swiped his arm away, causing Infinite to collapse back onto the floor. "Save your lies," Infinite struggled to get up again, but this time he made it up on his own. "After my fall, did you come and help me? No. You perfected the Phantom Ruby and used it. Too bad you _failed!_ "

"Infinite no that's-" Eggman started.

"I've lost everything! Everything's been stripped from me from the moment I met you! My pride, my squad, my power… It's all gone, damn it! All because of you and your obsession with that blue rat! I might be able to leave here without any damage done, but _she's_ not here to comfort me! _She's_ not here to make me see sense! I can't believe I was so blinded by power that I didn't listen to her. She obliged to me anyways, and got killed because of it! She did nothing wrong, yet that black one sent her falling to her doom! All because of _you_ , you bastard!" Infinite stood for a moment, panting after his speech.

"Infinite, I'm sure I can-" Eggman tried again.

"Lie to me again?! Make me your pet?!" Infinite roared. "My only wish now is to kill that infernal hedgehog _and_ you!" Infinite lunged at Eggman, claws outstretched for the jugular.

Eggman outstretched his arm in an attempt to keep Infinite away from him. He was successful, but the blood-thirsty jackal eventually started flailing his arms around, severely scratching Eggman in the process.

Seeing that Eggman was wounded by his flailing, Infinite jumped onto Eggman's arms and lunged for Eggman's face. He held Eggman's head with both of his hands, his claws barely scratching the bone of the Doctor's skull. Eggman felt the jackal's heavy, revenge-crazed breaths as Infinite's face came very, very close to his own.

"Listen to me, Fat One," Infinite growled. "Look deep into my eyes. See the rage I hold. Feel the rage I hold. Hold onto to it for dear life, because that is the last thing you will ever see. I am going to kill you and then…"

Eggman stopped listening to Infinite's words. He became too focused on Infinite's glowing red eyes. The eyes drew him in deeper and deeper. Infinite's voice became muffled. Eggman slowly lost his peripheral vision. Soon, he couldn't see anything clearly except Infinite. He couldn't hear anything clearly except Infinite.

Eggman blacked out.

"...after which I will shove it down his throat and watch him choke and die! And then- hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Infinite withdrew his claws from Eggman's head and slapped him so hard that Infinite jumped up with a sharp _yip_ as Eggman's unconscious body slumped sideways to the floor.

"...Is he dead?" Orbot asked.

"Don't get your hopes up." Infinite growled as he licked the blood off his claws. "The old fool only fainted from a loss of blood. Which, I might add, makes me rethink wanting to bite his arms off and eat them."

"Are you going to kill him now?" Orbot asked worriedly.

"No. I'm going to wait for him to wake up so that way I can tell him the updated version of my plan. Hey, do hedgehogs taste any good?"

"Why are you so adamant on eating them?" Orbot asked.

"Because I effing feel like it!" Infinite bayed. "Now get me some rope so I can tie him up."

"No," said Orbot imperiously. "I will not take part in your plans. As mean as he is, Eggman is _still_ my creator and master! I will not-"

"Ok geez pipe down." Infinite said, clearly annoyed. "Don't make me smash your head in. But what do you expect me to do? Say 'Hey Eggman! Get up and tie yourself to a chair so that I can kill you slowly?'"

At that moment, Eggman darted up. Infinite watched in confusion as Eggman got up and headed towards the entrance for the main room.

"Hold it!" Infinite barked.

Eggman halted.

"Face me,"

Eggman slowly turned around, his face completely expressionless.

"Tell me how amazing I am!" Orbot cried.

Eggman stared at Infinite.

"Sit," Infinite commanded.

Eggman plopped down on the floor.

"He's… under my control…?" Infinite realized. He's under my control! _He's under my control!_ "

Even if he was in a submarine under the water, Infinite's howling laughter could still be barely heard very faintly.


	4. Dark Sonic Arc Chapter Three

Within a month of post-war recovery, it was as if nothing had ever happened. The world resumed to its peacefully bustling lifestyle. Children played in the streets as the sun lazily floated in the sky. The song of birds fleeting and elegantly fluttering could be heard as they passed by. Catherine felt as if she had never felt so happy and so at ease before. She and Amy perambulated through the streets of the seaside city.

"Ah, that must be rough," Catherine said to Amy, in reply to a previous statement.

"Yeah," sighed Amy. "I can never seem to catch up with him. He's always got to be running around. Running away…"

"Aww." Catherine said. "I'm sure he has good reason to be... Running… around? I'm not so sure, but I'm positive he likes you Amy!"

"Yeah sure. Of course he does." Amy scoffed.

"Was there ever a time he missed being with you?" Catherine asked?

Amy slowed down her pace in order to think. "Hmmm… There was this one time he got pretty upset I didn't recognize him…"

"You didn't recognize him? Was he wearing a disguise?"

"No. It was at night in Spangonia this one time… He was going through a phase in which he turned into this big, hairy beast at night."

"Oh?" Catherine's eyes light up like a light bulb. "Big hairy beast? Like a werewolf?"

"More like a were _hog,_ " Amy corrected. "Why do seem so interested all of a sudden?"

"He must of looked like quite the hunk…" Catherine sighed dreamily.

"As if he isn't already a hunk now," Amy retorted. "He's my hero! And besides, he had these really big and sharp teeth and claws!"

"I have sharp teeth and claws!" Catherine smiled as she made a claw-like gesture with her hands. "His fur must've been so soft."

"It was," Amy smiled.

"It's a shame I never got to see it," Catherine frowned.

"Ah. Speak of the devil." said Amy.

At that moment, a blue streak of light whizzes past the two of them.

"Woah!" Catherine exclaimed. "How'd you know?"

"You get used to after a while," Amy shrugged. "But I sure do wish he would slow down for me a bit."

"Maybe he needs to freely stretch his legs," Catherine implied. "I don't think one month of freedom can compensate for six months of torture."

"I can't bear to wonder what Eggman did to him," Amy shuddered. "Six months… that must have been so horrible!"

"Whenever me or Beo ask him about it," Catherine said, "he just takes a deep breath and changes the subject,"

"It must've been so traumatic!" Amy sighed.

"Maybe they chained his feet to the floor,"

"Maybe Eggman had Infinite make a bunch of dead me's,"

"Maybe Eggman…"

Amy looked at Catherine, "...Maybe Eggman…?"

"Never mind!" Catherine nervously laughed.

"...Ok,"

"Oh I know! They put a chili dog in front of Sonic's cell. They put it just close so that he can just barely touch it. It was so close… yet so far…"

Amy looked at Catherine again with greater concern. "Oh ok!"

Seemingly oblivious to the air, Catherine gave Amy a blank stare. "That's exactly what Ara says before he says to me…" Catherine paused to clear her throat, then she spoke in her impersonation of Arrats, "You've been hanging around Beowulf too much,"

Amy and Catherine giggled at this for a while as they continued strolling down the path to the beach.

As they neared the shore, the could start feeling the slightly chilled, salty sea breeze weaving its way through the numerous buildings on the street.

"Amy," Catherine asked, "Why are we headed to the beach?"

"We're not," Amy argued. "We're going to Sonic's… sorry excuse for a piece of architecture."

"He has a house?"

"No. He has a sorry excuse for a piece of architecture,"

The sky clouded over as the wind picked up, leaving a sense of foreboding hanging in the air.

"He owns property?" Catherine nagged.

"Yeah, he does…" Amy said.

"How much?"

"I'm not so sure,"

The air grew chilly as the wind blew harder and the girls neared the shore. Had the sun been out, its light would have danced and shimmered upon the water's fleeting surface.

"Oh look! I can see the shore!" Catherine said, pointing, "Does Sonic live by the beach?"

"He hates water, so no," Amy replied. "He lives around this corner," Amy gestured to an alley on the right.

Catherine curiously looks around the alley as she and Amy walk through it. She could see metal railings and cold, gray walls. The scent of burnt paper hanging heavily on the air replaced the pleasant salt smell of the sea. The sounds of creaking could be heard from somewhere. It didn't take Catherine long to squeal out of fear when a garbage can fell over in heard general and spilled out it's decomposing contents.

"S-Sonic lives in a place like this?" Catherine whimpered.

"He lives beyond here," Amy said flatly. "This is the only easiest route we know. Sonic, of course, could just jump off the top of one of the buildings and be home, safe and sound,"

"Oh…" Catherine breathed. "Is that it over there?"

Catherine pointed towards a visibly brighter sliver of the world she could see between the buildings that made the alley.

"Yup!" Amy said as she started running.

Catherine followed after her, and she ended up in a small clearing. She wish she hadn't however, seeing the horrible, nightmare shack that greeted her.

The roof of the shack was made from straw, bamboo, and a myriad of other various materials. The walls were poles of bamboo strung together string and planks of plywood between them. The door and windows, like the rest of the house, were horribly misshapen. The door, being made from more bamboo strung together with a little bit of string and then palm leaves, swung eerily lazily in the wind.

" _This_ is Sonic's house?!" Catherine cried.

"Yup," Amy said. "He owns a quite a lot of land for a nomad,"

"This doesn't look like a lot…" Catherine argued as she dared play a giant knot on the door. "He's uh… quite artistic!"

"In the sense of music, yes," Amy sighed. "In the sense of architecture, no,"

"Music?" Catherine echoed.

"He sings and plays guitar," the voice of Tails said.

"Tails?!" Catherine shrieked. "Where are you?" She checked inside the hut. It was pretty well-lit, but no Tails. Did the house kill him? Is he running around as a ghost now?

"I'm in the garage," Tails replied.

"Garage!?" Catherine freaked. If Tails was in the garage, then would mean that the house has sentience and was able to hide corpses! " _I'm coming to save you Tails!_ " Catherine shrieked as she darted in and out of the hut, trying to find the alleged garage. " _I'll give you a proper funeral and let Sonic know of yourdeathandthenyoursoulwillfinallyrestinpea-_ "

"Woah wait what?!" Tails yelled. "I'm not dead, I'm just in the back!"

"Amy! You've gotta help me! Tails thinks he's still-"

Amy was gone.

"OH NO!" Catherine shrieked. The house got Amy, too. Soon, she'll be next, and Sonic will never know.

"What are you working on, Tails?" Amy's voice could be heard in the back. "Doesn't that look like-"

"Shadow's motorcycle," Tails said cheerfully.

 _The house got Shadow, too? But Shadow was the Ultimate Lifeform! That can't be! I have to get out of here and warn Sonic!_ Catherine thought frantically as she started to head to the alley.

"He said Infinite trashed it up pretty bad," Tails continued. "Completely out of spite,"

 _Infinite's here too?! Oh no! I've to protect Tails' and Amy's ghost!_

" _Hold on, guys! I'm coming!"_ Catherine cried, running around the hut to find the alleged garage. She tripped on something and landed at Tails' feet.

Tails looked down at Catherine, "See? Not dead."

Catherine jumped up and pushed Tails out of her way unknowingly. "Where's Infinite! I'll protect you guys!"

"He's not here, Cathy," Tails said, "Can you pick up Sonic's tools for me please? And hand me the screwdriver?"

"Huh? Sonic's screwdriver?" Catherine replied, completely forgetting about Infinite.

"That sounds oddly fitting," Amy remarked.

"Yeah," Tails nodded. "Sonic got an entire tool set for me to use while I'm at his… place of residence,"

"The haunted house and garage," Catherine stated.

"No," replied Tails. "The makeshift hut and shed Sonic made by his own hands all under two minutes,"

"Oh," Catherine frowned. She took a glance at the motorcycle propped onto the uneven plywood table inside the mess of a shed and marveled at how the table didn't collapse under all of the weight. She then glanced over to Tails' left hand. He was holding what looked like an exhaust pipe. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh this?" Tails said, his face lighting up as he held up the gizmo. "This is my new super sonic…"

Catherine found herself unable to follow Tails as he rambled on and on about his… "That's uh… a nice metal refractor. What are you doing with it?"

"I'm modifying Shadow's bike," Tails smiled.

"Oh! That's-" Catherine was cut off as her eye-computer buzzed and light up in her pocket.

"Cat!" Ari's voice could be heard over the speaker faintly, ten hints of distress in his voice. "You've gotta come quick! Eggman's attacking Park Avenue!"

"Ah crap!" Catherine cursed. "I'm on my way!"

Tails dismounted the motorcycle from the table and set it on the ground. Doing so caused the table to collapse. The shed followed as the wind bested it. "Crap… Anyways, climb on! I think I know how to use this!"

"Let's hope you do," Amy said as she mounted the motorbike after Tails and Catherine.

"Let's go!" Catherine shrieked.

 _Shit… we're outnumbered…_ Arrats thought in distress. Eggman's forces were aggressively relentless today. It pissed him off, to say the least.

Ari tore through wave after wave of robots, but there was so much the bird and his Drill Wispon could take. It wasn't long until he and Arrats had their backs against each other, panting. "It's hopeless, there's nothing we can do right now… Shit!"

Beowulf shot flame after flame from his Burst Wispon as he spinned weaved through the crowded battlefield. "Aww man… I just finished cleaning the mess up from earlier!" He punched and kicked his way through to his brother.

"Beo," panted Arrats, "how the hell do you manage to keep your trigger finger in that position for so long?"

"I don't!" Beowulf smiled. "I'm using a string to keep it in place!"

"...You cheating little bastard…" Arrats growled.

"No time for fighting with each other!" Ari squawked. "They're attacking from the sky, now!"

"No they're not," Beowulf observed. "They're being knocked into the sky,"

Arrats looked up to see hordes of robots be flung into the air like ragdolls by some unknown force. "Beo, shoot them down, please,"

"Aye, sir!" Beowulf yipped happily as he pointed his Wispon to the sky, shooting all the airborne robots as if it were a video game.

Soon, Arrats heard the source of the frackas-a very loud engine was headed for them!

"Disperse!" Arrtas shouted. He dove out of the way of the motorcycle as it plowed through the robots. He saw Catherine jump off and join him.

"Mind if I dive in?" She purred.

"Yes, please!" Arrats grinned, raising his Void Wispon into firing position. "Let's show these ass-buckets who's boss!"

"Yup!" Catherine grinned back as she raised her own Void Wispon.

The Cat-Dog duo jumped and twirled elegantly as they fired off their weapons, sending the robots into a deep, unknown hell. However, it was as if for every robot the two got rid off, nine more stepped in to take its place. Soon enough, Catherine and Arrats were being buried in the sea of robots.

"It's hopeless!" Arrats barked. "There's too many of them! It's as if they're-"

"Infinite!" Beowulf howled.

Arrats grunted and got a enough robots out of his way to be able to head in the direction of his brother's voice. Catherine, however, darted ahead of him.

"Catherine, NO!" Arrats yelled, realizing his fears were coming through.

Catherine leaped to meet Beowulf who was standing underneath Infinite. He and Catherine stared at the demon as he descended down.


	5. Dark Sonic Arc Chapter Four

"You idiots! Stay away from him!"

Beowulf could hear the disdain and terror in his brother's voice as Catherine bounded over to join the red wolf in trying to appease Infinite.

"You'll get yourselves killed, dammit!" Arrats yelled.

"You best listen to brother, little wolfie," Infinite taunted. "I'm in a killing mood today,"

Catherine took a step towards Infinite as the jackal landed daintily, the setting sun casting a shadow of infinite dread over the cat and the wolf. "We're not stepping down. There's another way to stop this, Infinite; you don't have to do this!"

"You're right," Infinite nodded, "I don't. But I _want_ to."

"Can't we all just be friends?" Beowulf dared to say.

As if frowning, Infinite snapped his head towards Beowulf.

"Can't we?" Beowulf whimpered.

"Pathetic," Infinite spat. "First you banish me to hell, then you try to befriend me? Are you bipolar, or are just a pretentious hypocrite?"

"That was-" Arrats started.

"I'm sorry," Beowulf said, bowing his head down in shame. "I didn't know what would happen to you. I only did what I did because I felt I had to. You wouldn't stop all the destruction. You almost killed all of us. As much as I want for all of us to be friends, I don't want to live in a dystopia where the world crumbles at your touch. I don't want anyone to live like that. That's why I had to stop you. But I just didn't know that would happen. After I saw you disappear, I felt as if I had been shot in the stomach. I felt as if I had so much blood on my hands that not even all the water in the world could wash it off,"

Clutching his sides, Infinite fell to floor as he roared out a cynical laugh. "Oh my! That's rich. You felt sorry for me? No, you feel sorry for me? Oh lord, that's too funny."

"Ah what?" Beowulf said.

"Ha…" Infinite breathed as he picked himself up. "Ha… I don't want to be friends. I want you all to suffer at my hands,"

Beowulf froze for a moment, looking Infinite dead in the eye. "If that's the case," he finally said, kneeling down, "then so be it. Make me suffer, if that makes you happy. I am at your mercy," Beowulf held his arms out to embrace Infinite's wrath.

Catherine, Ari, and Arrats all stepped back far away. Infinite looked at them in confusion. They returned his confused glances with a strong, unified look of determination, hope, horror, fear, and a myriad of other emotions.

"What are you all doing?" Infinite bayed. "Do you not care what happens to your friend?"

"We do," Catherine replied firmly, tears welling in her eyes. "That's why we're letting him do what he wants. We know he can take any amount of physical pain,"

Infinite glared back down at Beowulf. The wolf's face mirrored that of a blazing fire. It was as if he could fold his hands in prayer at any moment. Infinite grinned under his mask. "I'll gladly take up on that offer, then. I'd love to see just how much pain he can take!"

The first blow was to the stomach-Infinite kicked Beowulf in his upper abdomen, knocking the wolf back thus hitting his head on the concrete ground. The pain felt like a poisoned dagger being thrust up his chest from the below, yet Beowulf closed his eyes and did not make a single peep. He could hear Infinite's maniacal laugh as the jackal started kicking Beowulf's ears, mouth, nose, arms, throat, legs, and everywhere else the demon could think of. Each blow felt like a hot rod of blunt metal being jabbed in each respective area. Tears welled in Beowulf's eyes, yet like an unmoving Jizo, his mouth did not open to make a single sound.

"Are you dead already?" Infinite yelled, disappointed. "Or do you not feel any pain, due to how ridiculously dense you are?"

"No…" Beowulf replied painfully. "Neither am I dead nor am I unfeeling to the pain. The pain hurts. It hurts alot. But if causing me pain brings you satisfaction, then so be it. I am your punching bag,"

"Wolf, don't!" Amy cried.

"I don't want a punching bag, puppy," Infinite growled. "I want to hear you scream,"

"Then so be it," Beowulf replied, hot tears streaming down his face.

"No!" Tails yelled.

Roaring in anger, clawed at Beowulf's face. The wolf did not scream, but he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Beowulf!" Ari gasped. Frozen with shock, the bird watched as Infinite continued to abuse Beowulf's unconscious body. "Stop! He's already unconscious! Aren't you satisfied with at least that?!"

Infinite paused to reply to Ari. "Satisfied? I won't be satisfied until you all have suffered,"

"Then stop hurting him!" Catherine screeched, hot tears pouring down his face. "He's already suffered to the point of being knocked out! Do you want to kill him?"

"Kill him?" Infinite retreated from hurting the unconscious wolf to stand to face Catherine. "No, of course not! Giving him, or any of you, death would be a sign of mercy. I'm not in the mood for mercy,"

"I thought you were in a killing mood today," Tails blurted.

"If someone dies today, I'll be satisfied, too," Infinite replied, giving Tails a side glance. "However, I have other plans for you. All of you!"

"In two short, agonizingly long weeks, our plans will be complete!" Eggman recited, slowly descending in his Egg Mobile.

"Yes," Infinite hissed cheerfully. "In the meantime, I get to practice torturing all of you,"

"No!" Amy protested. "Sonic will come and save us!"

"You little bitch," Infinite taunted. "Sonic is-"

As if on cue, Infinite is cut off by a blue streak of light smashes all of the robots faster than they can replenish their forces. It bounces off of Infinite and lands by Beowulf.

"Right in front of me," Infinite finished. "Good."

Sonic looked down at Beowulf lying at his feet, ignoring Infinite's words. "Why the hell is he bleeding?"

Infinite waved his fingers, indicating that he had clawed Beowulf. "I also knocked him unconscious. He's pretty resilient, but he's still weak,"

"You did what?" Sonic yelled.

"Don't blame me," Infinite shrugged. "It's what the mutt wanted,"

"What?" Sonic cried in disbelief. He crouched down to hold Beowulf in his arms. Through the unsightly gash run across the left side of his face, Sonic could still make out a faint smile. "Buddy…" Picking Beowulf's body in his arms, Sonic got up and turned to face Arrats. "He's your brother, isn't he? Don't you owe it to him to protect him?"

"We know better than to stop him," Arrats mumbled. "Because when he stands, he does not move,"

"Then why didn't you move him?" Sonic yelled. "What about you, Cat? Did you really just stand there and watch your best friend get beaten to near death?"

"Sonic…" Catherine sobbed. "Even if you were here to stop him, Beo would still not budge,"

"He is…" Ari breathed, "... our Jizo. Never willing to attain peace until Hell has been emptied,"

Sonic almost dropped Beowulf's body in disbelief, but Infinite's cynical laughter brought him back to his senses.

"Again, that's rich!" Infinite howled, clutching his sides. "Hell will never empty until I'm around. As far as I need to know, you're all already in my Hell as it is!"

"Shut the hell up," Sonic growled, gently laying Beowulf down.

"I'd like to see you make me," Infinite chuckled.

"Very well," Sonic replied by running to attack Infinite.

Infinite dodged the attack by merely sidestepping to the right, however. "Deja vu, isn't it? This is where I kick your ass and bring you with me to die,"

"Not this time, bastard!" Sonic attempted to attack Infinite again, but the jackal sidestepped it again.

"I guess I'll spare you the trouble today," Infinite shrugged. "This is boring me,"

With a single movement, Infinite jumped up and kicked Sonic in the head, knocking the hedgehog to the ground.

"Damn you!" Sonic yelled. He tried to get up to attack Infinite again, but his hands and feet were chained to the ground somehow. Sonic looked up to see Infinite and Eggman ascending. However, Infinite was holding something yellow. "Tails!"

"I no longer feel the need to waste my time on you today," Infinite declared. "I've shown my dominance. Plus, I've also retrieved my prize." Infinite throttled Tails slightly.

"Sa-ghk" Tails pleaded.

"Let him go!" Sonic yelled.

"I'm going to have so much fun with you," Infinite said to Tails.

"Give him back, now!" Sonic screamed.

"Nope," Infinite replied, flying off into the sunset with Eggman.

It was only when Infinite and Eggman had finally disappeared did Sonic's chains vanish. The blue hedgehog, filled with undying rage, shot after the jackal.


	6. Dark Sonic Arc Chapter Five

Despite being in Infinite's strong chokehold pressed against his chest, Tails somehow found the strength to struggle against the jackal. "Let me go!" He tries to move his legs to kick the Jackal, but it was to no avail; his lungs hurt and it was if his legs were made out of stone.

Had either Eggman or Infinite spoke, Tails was sure he would hear them. However, throughout the endlessly long journey to wherever, the only sound Tails heard was the sound of the Phantom Ruby pulsing.

Against Infinite's chest, there was no light of hope-only a light of death.

Infinite found the hole in the ground he had made for the yellow fox in the baren, stone void of a wasteland. He threw Tails in without a word, the fox landing next to the large burlap cloth Infinite decided to put in there to use as a bed or a blanket.

"Ouch!" Tails yipped as he hit the ground. "Hey! Get me out of here!"

Infinite smirked under his mask as he shook his head. "Sorry. No can do. You're mine now, pet,"

"Pet?" Tails echoed. "I'm not your 'pet!' I'm going to get out of here and find Sonic! Then we'll beat you up again, just like last time,"

"Sonic?" Infinite laughed. "What do you mean find Sonic? How can you find someone who doesn't want to be found?"

"What?"

"Sonic isn't coming to get you, little fox boy," Infinite taunted as he crouched on the edge of the pit. "I'm afraid he just doesn't actually care about you,"

"What? Of course he cares about me!" Tails yelled. "I'm his best buddy; his best friend!"

"Foolish little weakling," Infinite growled. "Your attachment to the blue sewer rat makes you even weaker than him. That's why you're as good as dead to him,"

"What? No I'm not!" Tails protested. "Neither am I weak nor am I considered 'dead to him!'"

"You're useless and weak. I could not possibly hope to see how anyone could even give less of a damn when there was none to be given in the first place,"

"Grr…" Tails growled. "Even if what you say is true-which, might I add, is not-I can still get out of here just fine on my own!"

Tails' last comment peaked Infinite's genuine interest. "Oh?"

"I may not know where I am or how to get home, but I'll find a way!"

"And pray tell me, how do you expect to get out?"

"I think it's better for me to show you than tell you!" Tails declared as he started spinning his tails, slowly rising up at a steadily increasing speed.

"Oh." Infinite said, unimpressed. "That _is_ a problem," With a swift motion of his arm, Infinite made Tails' tails crack, rendering them useless.

The pain Tails felt, it rested on Infinite's tongue like honey. The terror Tails held, it slid down Infinite's throat like sweet syrup. It was far beyond delicious.

"Mmmm," Infinite moaned, savoring the taste of everything all at once. "You best get comfortable, little fox boy. You're going to be here a very long time,"

Tails whimpered as he curled up in a corner, using the burlap to hide himself from Infinite. The jackal took this chance to cover the pit with a metal grating. He used the phantom ruby to ensure the temperature of the metal remained high enough to scar anyone who touched it. Pleasuring himself on the thought of Tails climbing up only to burn his hands on the grating and thus fall back down, Infinite used the Phantom Ruby to carve out ridges on the sides of the pit.

"There, that should do it," Infinite said as he finished with the ridges. "Before I go, I want you to remember this, fox boy,"

Shivering in fear, Tails peeked out from under the burlap.

"You're mine, _pet,_ " Infinite growled. He turned to leave, starting to focus on another issue at hand.

Sonic ran as fast as he could, but he still was not able to catch up to the jackal as he disappeared into the distance with Tails. Determination fueling his legs to run faster, anger blocking any and all pain, the hedgehog pushed on forward, calling out the name of his friend. Seconds turned to minutes. Then minutes turned to hours. Sonic's voice grew hoarse from the endless calling into the darkening sunset. Even if they broke, Sonic would still push his tired, weary legs.

The moon watched on at its perch high in the sky as Sonic finally collapsed to the ground, his head light and spinning. Sonic felt his lungs were going to burst as he quickly inhaled and exhaled, clearly overworking his burning, aching lungs.

In the dim light, Sonic couldn't see much. It was obvious that he was in a forest of some sorts, but the density of copse made it impossible to see anything. However, the orchestra of crickets and sparrows resonating bounced off the thick trees.

"So this is where you end up? Pathetic,"

The sound of Infinite's voice behind enraged Sonic again. He turns around and lunges at Infinite, grabbing the jackal by his white, fluffy chest fur. "Where's Tails?"

"Obviously not here," Infinite replied sarcastically. "In fact, you couldn't be any more farther away from him!"

"Don't play games with me, bastard!" Sonic gripped Infinite's chest fur harder, threatening to rip it out. "Tell me where Tails is, _now!_ "

"How about… no?"

"Do you have a death wish, mutt?" Sonic growled.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Infinite laughed. "Making death threats are we?"  
"It wasn't a threat," Sonic seethed. "It's a promise,"

"Oh really? That's not how everyone's beloved 'hero' would act now is it?"

"Don't change the damn topic!"

"No one's watching. No one's listening in on us. Now's the perfect time to let out all that anger isn't it?"

"Infinite…" Sonic growled, gripping the jackals chest fur even harder.

"Yeah, go on. Show me your true colors. Show me what you really are after those sweet, six months!"

"Damn you, bastard!" Sonic threw Infinite to the ground and started punching his mask.

"Yeah ok. You really need to stop. You're no fun when you're like this," Infinite said.

"Shut up and tell me where Tails is!" Sonic screamed, hot tears pouring down his face.

"Ok seriously, calm down. If you're just going to thrash and scream like a child, I might as well just kill you,"

Sonic stopped punching to lean in closer to Infinite's face. "I'd like to see you try, mutt," he spat.

Infinite punched Sonic off of his chest, got up, and kicked the hedgehog away. "Stupid rat! Are you making this easy on purpose?

"I'll kill you, I swear…" Sonic growled, getting up.

"No you won't!" Infinite bayed. "I _was_ going to tell you where you friend was, but now I changed my mind. I might as well just kill you and leave!"

"What?! No don't-" Sonic yelled, his head quickly clearing.

Infinite crossed his arms, as if waiting for Sonic.

The hedgehog took in a deep breath. Then after a moment, he exhaled away the anger. "Ok Infinite, where's Tails? Please, just tell me where he is,"

"If you must know," Infinite sighed, "I have him. And don't worry, he's completely fine… for now,"

"Ok, that's good," Sonic breathed. "Where do you have him, then?"

"Uhhhh…" Infinite said, looking around. "Not here,"

"Ok," Sonic replied sarcastically. "Yeah, that totally helps. Thanks,"

"Aw," Infinite cooed. "I'm glad to have helped,"

"No you're not," Sonic retorted.

"Yeah, that's true,"

"Where is he, Infinite?"

"Uhhh.. Somewhere!"

"But not here?"

"Yep! He's somewhere that's not here!"

"Ok. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, I do! He's in my captivity,"

"Ok, If I were to kick your ass, would you tell me where Tails is?" Sonic said, getting irritated.

"Ok! Sure!" Infinite said cheerfully.

"R-really?" Sonic replied, not believing that Infinite complied.

"Yeah!" Infinite said. "Because I know you'll never be able to kick my ass,"

"Oh, please!" Sonic retorted. "I've kicked your ass twice already!"

"No," Infinite replied. "That first time, I kicked your ass harder. The second time, you had help. You can't beat me all on your lonesome,"

"You wanna bet, puppy?"

"Ok, fine. The loser gives the victor anything he chooses,"

"Can we ask for more than one thing?"

"And raise the stakes?" Infinite yipped gleefully. "Yes! All the more for you to lose!"

"Ok then," Sonic nodded. "If I win, you give me back Tails. Plus, you'll have to hand over your mask and the Phantom Ruby!"

"That's fine. If I win, I just want to take your pride,"

Sonic cocked his head in confusion. "What?"

"I get to publicly humiliate you," Infinite reiterated.

"Fine! That's perfect! Since, I'm not going to lose, it's a deal!"

"Since you are going to lose, it's a dance to the death,"

Before Infinite could even twitch, Sonic whizzed past the jackal. Using his own accel-bioluminescence, the hedgehog navigated the dense copse in an attempt to confuse Infinite. Weaving through trees, jumping over roots, swinging on vines, ducking under branches, Sonic circled the dense forest around the jackal. Eventually, he finally jumped in and punched Infinite in the side of his face.

"Ack!" Infinite grunted. "Is that all, hedgehog? I know pups who could do better!"

"In that case," Sonic grinned, "time for me to end my warmup!"

"What?"

Sonic bared his hands as he took a fighting stance. "I'm getting Tails back whether you like it or not!"

"We'll see!"

Infinite leaped at Sonic, aiming a punch for the jugular. However, Sonic glided under the jackal and jabed him in the gut. Infinite, not being phased by the shock of the pain, flipped over Sonic and slapped him. Recoiling from Infinite's slap, Sonic cartwheeled out of the way as the jackal landed on his feet.

"Is that all _you've_ got, Fluffy?" Sonic taunted.

"Nope," Infinite said, rising into the air. "I have plenty more,"

Sonic ran as he dodged trees and blasts from the Phantom Ruby.

"Silly Infinite!" Sonic called. "What's the use of all that power if you're too slow?"

"I'll show you," Infinite replied.

Sonic felt something-hot but at the same time cold-brush his leg. He felt the strength leave him as he was hurtled into the air. In his spinning daze, Sonic could see Infinite and his red light of death. With his head pounding, Sonic could hear Infinite's maniacal laugh. Even with his entire body numb, Sonic could still feel the subzero cold breaking his legs and the atomic heat piercing his chest. Sonic blacked out-Infinite had won.

Murmurs filled his head. The lethargic heat suffocated him. His body refused to move. His chest was on fire. His legs felt like broken ice. Breathing heavily, yet not taking in any air, Sonic forced his eyelids to open. Letting out a moan, he pushed himself up from the ground.

"Ah, Sonic," Infinite hummed, "You're finally awake. Good. We can't have the star of tonight's meeting asleep now, can we?"

"What?" Sonic groaned, looking around. It was dark, but he could make out the shapes of Amy, Shadow, and Catherine. Knuckles, Arrats, and Ari were probably present as well, but Sonic wasn't too sure.

"What do you expect to gain from this, you pathetic little mutt?" Shadow growled.

"Satisfaction," Infinite murmured. "And I'm not the pathetic one. You are. All of you are. You're all so sickeningly weak and pathetic for worshipping this…" Infinite paused to kick Sonic in the gut. "...worthless rat,"

"What do you want?" Sonic expectorated.

"Your public humiliation," Infinite growled, probably grinning under his mask.

"I feel pretty humiliated right now. Care to let me go?"

"Nah. This doesn't satisfy me,"

"Then what will?" Sonic coughed.

"I'll tell you," Infinite said, bending down close to Sonic's ear. "I want you to lick. My. Feet,"

"What?" Sonic choked.

"Either that, or you can lie there and watch kill all these people,"

"D-damn you! I'll do neither!"

"You don't have a choice, hedgehog,"

"Grrr…." Sonic tried to push himself up, but the burning pain in his chest pushed him down.

"So," Infinite said. "What will it be?"

"A-Amy!" Sonic yelled hoarsely. "Take a swing at him!"

"With what?" Infinite taunted, holding Amy's hammer in front of Sonic's face. "This?"

"Yes!"

Sonic heard the undeniable _thunk_ of Amy's hammer hitting Infinite's mask.

"What the-?" Infinite barked.

"There's plenty more where that came from!" Amy yelled, conjuring a third hammer.

Shadow stood in front of Amy and raised his gun towards Infinite. "And I wouldn't suggest even so much as thinking about attacking her, puppy,"

"Damn you all!" Infinite bayed, swiping his arm in front of him, sending everyone flying back.

"No!" Sonic screamed, hearing everyone hit the ground with a sickenly unified _thud._

"First Beowulf, then Sonic, and now the rest of us?" Catherine spat as she struggled to get up. "I dare not think of what you did to Tails,"

"Last chance, Sonic," Infinite taunted as he started walking towards Catherine.

"No!" Sonic screamed, his throat feeling scratched.

"What will this accomplish, Infinite?" Catherine cried. "What do you want?"

"I want revenge," Infinite growled. "I want retribution," He was getting too close to Catherine.

"Please stop!" Sonic screamed. "Don't hurt them,"

"But do you know what I want most of all, truly?" Infinite growled, leaning in closer to Catherine.

"I-I'll-" Sonic tried to scream.

Catherine's face reflected her shock after hearing what Infinite chose to tell only her. She looked at him as he backed. "And you think this will bring her back?"

"You can't bring back the dead, so no," Infinite stated flatly.

"You think she will be proud of this? Do you not stop for a second and think of what she might think if she were alive and seeing you do this? Do you ever consider that? Do you?" Catherine caterwauled.

"Don't talk as if you knew her, kitty," Infinite growled.

"No! Don't hurt them!" Sonic rasped.

"Do you even know why she's dead?" Infinite bayed. "It's because of that bastard right there!" Infinite jabbed his finger in Shadow's direction. "It's because of him I no longer have a heart to feel, nor a soul to know of any feeling. It's because of him I drown in my own tears night after night. It's because of him I no longer have her voice ringing in my ears, telling me to stop. It's because of him I don't know how to stop. It's because of him I can't stop.

"Maybe you should try seeing how filthy _you_ are before you judge _me!_ But then again, none of it matters anymore.

"All of you are so pathetic, wallowing in your skins of purity, wearing the mask of self-virtue,"

"And what do you wear?" Catherine screeched. "Do you not wear a mask of your own? Is that not your own mask of self-righteousness?"

"You want me to take off the mask?" Infinite roared, ripping the mask off his face. "Fine! Here, take the damn mask and try it on yourself! Maybe then you'll see just how damn pretentious you all are!"

Sonic heard the mask fall at Catherine's feet. The air stood still, save for the heaving of Infinite's chest.

"I may be blind in one eye," Infinite growled, "but that doesn't mean I'm blind entirely. In fact, I'm not blind at all. I can see you all for what you truly are-useless piles of worthless shit trying to make yourselves have some sort of significance!"

"Are you sure you're describing us, and not you?" Shadow said.

"What?" Infinite bayed.

"Stop!" Sonic screamed. "I'll do it! Just don't hurt them!"

For the first time, Sonic could see the pure rage and hatred reflecting off the yellow eyes of the jackal as Infinite turned his head to glare at Sonic.

After a while, Infinite's gaze softened and he smiled. "That's all I needed to hear,"

Wordlessly, Infinite flies off, leaving Sonic to drown in his own humiliation and Catherine clutching the mask.

Infinite came back to Tails' hole only to find the yellow-bellied fox had escaped.

"How did he manage to escape without moving the grating?" Infinite asked himself. "Did he dig himself out?" Infinite scratched his head as he looked around. He eventually spotted the fox heading towards the rising sun. "There we go,"

Infinite flew over to the unsuspecting fox, who was muttering something to himself. "From there, I should be able to figure out where to go next,"

Infinite crossed his arms and sighed, not wanting to deal with anymore drama he did not create. "Where you'll go next, little fox, is back to my hell,"

"Crapbaskets!" Tail yipped as he turned around to face Infinite. "Wait… are you…"

"It's me," Infinite sighed. "I just decided not to wear my mask anymore,"

"Why were you wearing it in the first place?" Tails asked.

"I wore it to hide my past," Infinite explained. "I hid my own unsightly face and let go of my past to attain my new identity. Seeing as it won't matter who I am to you in two weeks, I decided I shouldn't really care,"

"Unsightly?" Tails repeated. "Your face doesn't look unsightly to me. I'm actually quite fascinated with your heterochromia,"

Infinite blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You're different colored eyes!" Tails said. "There's only a fraction of a percent that a person would be born with that,"

"I wasn't born with it," Infinite sighed as he shook his head. "The blue eye is the result of what gave me that scar. I'm blind in that eye,"

"O-oh," Tails blinked. "So uhhh… you're not mad at me for escaping are you?"

Infinite shook his head. "No, I'm not mad. I'd be disappointed if you didn't try to escape. Easy prey is no fun to play with,"

"O-oh…" Tails said again.

"Why do you ask?" Infinite said, raising an eyebrow. "Anticipation of the end?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Tails chuckled nervously.

"Nah I won't kill ya. I'll take care of you, don't worry,"

"Wait what? Really?"

"Yeah… in the middle of me torturing you and hearing you scream,"

"Oh," Tails gulped.

"I can't have you die, now can I?"

"I guess not…" Tails smiled nervously as he started backing away slowly.

Infinite sighed again, noticing Tails' slow backwards steps. "Listen, I'm currently not in the mood for your shenanigans. Let me just torture you so I can start back with my preparations,"

"Uh…"

"So… run…"

Tails fell backwards as he coughed out of surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"Run," Infinite said apathetically.

"No," Tails declared. "You're just going to catch me… so no,"

"You're smart," Infinite said, raising his claw to swipe Tails. "Too bad you're not smart enough,"

Infinite was about to claw at the fox's face, but Tails kicked sand into the jackal's eyes before spin-dashing off.

"Arrgh!" Infinite growled, rubbing his eyes. "You're too damn smart for your own good, fox boy!"

After (painstakingly) clearing the dust from his eyes, Infinite scanned the wasteland for the yellow pelt of the fox. Finding nothing, he used the Phantom Ruby to curl the land up and over into a sort of bowl. Dust and rocks fell from the once-flat land. Eventually, the thin piece of crust Infinite curled upwards fell under gravity's spell and came crashing down. He found the fox struggling under a large piece of asphalt.

"Help me, please!" Tails cried as Infinite approached him.

With a wave of his hand, Infinite's illusion disappeared in a flurry of black and red cubes. Infinite grabbed Tails by the chest fur and dragged the fox behind him.

"Aieee," Tails yelled in pain.

When he got there, Infinite threw Tails onto the metal grating. The hot sizzling of skin and fur burning and Tails' agonized screams only slightly satisfied Infinite. He was thinking too much about what Catherine had said to taste Tails' pain. However, the fox's increasing terror eventually shook Infinite awake. He smiled as he peeled Tails off the scorching metal. "There we go, I feel much better now. I like the markings the metal burned onto your face-it looks like some sort of mask. Ironic, isn't it? I threw away my mask only to give you one, ha ha!"

Tails only whimpered feebly.

"It's beautiful, really, being all scorched like that. Did you enjoy it? I did. I could give you some more~!"

"N-no…" Tails coughed. "Please…"

"Ok fine, I'll tend to your wounds. Can't have your entire body used up on the first day, now can I?"

Tais only whimpered again.

"And don't worry, the amount of fun we're going to have is going to infinite…"

Infinite carried Tails off as he laughed maniacally.

Sonic woke up with a start. He jolted upwards in his hammock, panic. He was in the safety of his own (unsafe) home. Yet, somehow, he still felt a strong sense of foreboding burning into his chest.


End file.
